IntroductionIn 1653 Lord Cromwell was proclaimed leader and protector of
England. In an effort to improve the trade and the wealth of England, the island of Jamaica
was settled. In 1656 approximately 1,600 immigrants arrived and settled
around Port Morant. Several years later and as plantations began to produce and
word of mouth spread, Jamaica began to prosper.
Great wealth was brought to the island by the buccaneers, who operated mainly
from Port Royal, by plundering Spanish ships which transported gold and silver
from South America [26].

With the Hapsburg dynasty waning with King Philip of Spain
spending himself into poverty, the Spanish Main slowly lost its grasp on the
West Indies. Making matters worse, English and French privateers and pirates
continued to plunder the Spanish ships and trading posts throughout the islands
putting a strangle hold on the inflow of silver and gold from Mexico and the
West Indies.

Jamaica became Oliver Cromwell's beacon of trade and
colonization. His hopes of the Puritan movement and the conversion of
non-protestants became dashed as the Jamaica turned into the first "Wild West".
Port Royal, the largest port in Jamaica became infested by pirates and became to
be known at the most wickedest city in the world. Drunkards, debtors, slaves,
indentured servants, prisoners and dissenters were all shipped to the colony in
order to rid the Mainland of the downtrodden. However, Jamaica was also made up
of hard working, risk taking privateers, merchants and plantation owners. After
Cromwell's death he was embalmed. King Charles II dragged his body through the
streets amongst parading onlookers then hung his corpse before quartering him.

During the early English emigration to the New England
colonies of Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts between 1637 and 1640,
William Frogg ventured between the ports of England and the colonies.
His obscure appearance can be seen in in mutilated letter preserved and recorded
and the annals of Accomack County, Virginia

The depo of Robt...age 27 yrs. Says "..he carried calfes [calves] to wean...and
as Mr. Dodgworth (Dodsworth) [probably Phillipp Dodsworth] appointed h..Mr Throgmorton [Robert Throckmorton] bid Mrs...and a calfe which she
attempited[sic]...but could not at the time by ...escape then the said Mr.
Frog ...Cuglie [probably Daniel Cugley (? -1641) husband of Hanna
Savage (? -1641) "aged about 35 yeeres or
ther abouts"; pg 21] bid this deponent take...which she elected which beast
was...thence by Mr. Dodsworth ap..." [4].

In order to purchase 90 acres in Jamaica, William Frogg
would have been a semi-wealthy and an extreme risk taker . William would have been a
sugar plantation owner and been involved in the trade between the New World, Great Britain
and the West Indies. Typical commodities traded between the colonies included:
sugar, cowhide, pimento, dyes, cinnamon, ginger, tortoise shells, slaves and
indentured servants.

William's plantation in Jamaica during would have been
powered by slaves and white indentured servants shipped from other colonies and
the French and British Isles. These slaves would lived on the plantation, not in
homes but in tiny shacks or huts. Some would have been made to live in small
wooden structures as small as dog houses. Every two hours free to roam in the
neighboring ports would have cost them 1 month of extra work in the fields. The
plantation required the soil to be hoed, grubbed, de-weeded, de-wormed, sowed,
tended and shipped. [5]

The planters of Jamaica did not like the pirates and
privateers of the island and they did not like the planters. The slaves were
constantly escaping in the middle of the night as runaways and joining the
pirates ships. Booty from plundering was a far better risk to reward ratio than
toiling in the fields for poor subsidence.

Edward Collier
1668-72. English. Ships: Satisfaction [Captain Morgan's Flagship]. Although nothing is known about his
earlier career, Collier was an experienced captain when he took part in
Sir Henry Morgan's expeditions. Many witnesses,
both English and Spanish, claimed he tortured prisoners even more cruelly then
Morgan and the other buccaneer captains.
Collier commanded a pirate vessel during Morgan's 1668 raid on Portobelo. At the
end of 1668, the 34-gun Oxford was sent to defend Jamaica and to put down
piracy. The island's governor gave Collier command, when her previous captain
killed the ship's master during a quarrel. Collier captured
Captain La Veven, a French pirate,
whose ship was seized and renamed the Satisfaction.
Soon after, Collier joined Morgan, who was gathering the buccaneers for his raid
on Maracaibo and Gibraltar, Venezuela. The drunken pirates blew up the Oxford
in January 1669, but Morgan and Collier were among the lucky survivors.
Following this disaster, Collier went off on his own, taking the Satisfaction
on an 18-month independent cruise to Mexico and possibly to Cuba.
In September 1670, Collier enlisted in Morgan's Panama expedition and was named
"vice-admiral." While the pirates were gathering off southwestern Haiti, Collier
took six ships to Venezuela to gather food and information. At Rio De La Hacha,
he captured the fort and garrison and ferociously tortured his prisoners. He
enjoyed his victims' agonies too much for efficient interrogation, for he missed
2000,000 pesos hidden by the fort's commander. After extorting a ransom in salt,
corn, and meat, he rejoined Morgan's main fleet early in December. When Morgan
routed Panama's defenders in January 1671, Collier commanded the buccaneers'
left wing. He and his men chased after and slaughtered the fleeing enemy. After
the Spaniards surrendered, Collier killed one of their chaplains, a Franciscan
friar.
Collier took ample plunder during his voyages. In 1668, Jamaica's governor gave
him a 1,000-acre plantation next to one of Morgan's estates. Plantations of this
size were granted only to men with substantial funds to purchase slaves and
tools. Collier did not share Morgan's disgrace after the assault on Panama.
Although a new governor arrested Morgan, Collier remained in Jamaica and led
preparations to defend the island against a possible foreign invasion.